The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine, one that consistently releases new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. There are a number of highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies, but fans are also curious if Chris Hemsworth's Thor will get a fifth solo movie. Kenneth Branagh, who directed the 2011 original movie, has an idea to return to the franchise... and he's inspired by one of the best superhero movies ever.
Fans who have watched the Marvel movies in order have seen as the Thor franchise changed over the years. Taika Waititi's pair of movies leaned into comedy and color, while Branagh's original was quite serious. In a conversation with Business Insider, the actor/filmmaker revealed his A+ idea for a return to the property, saying:
Part of me would love to finish my relationship with that character. I’d always wanted to do more and indeed had a couple of ideas, more in the territory of James Mangold’s brilliant Logan. I would love to see Chris Hemsworth and the others have their own individual final story that takes Thor into a glorious twilight.
Honestly, sign me up. Before Hugh Jackman returned in Deadpool & Wolverine, James Mangold's Logan was meant to be his final bow as everyone's favorite clawed mutant. The movie was universally acclaimed, earning an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. And Logan's ending provided a moving and beautiful ending for the beloved character, who finally died while saving X-23.
I would love to see what Branagh might do with Chris Hemsworth's signature character if he took a Logan-esque approach to Thor 5. Of course, it's unclear if the studio is planning on doing a fifth movie; most heroes only get trilogies of solo flicks. The exceptions are Thor, Spider-Man, and Captain America, although the latter is unique because Brave New World was about Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson rather than Steve Rogers.
Of course, we're going to have to wait and see if Thor actually lives through the next two Avengers movies first. Some fans think that the God of Thunder might be killed off in Doomsday or Secret Wars, with even Chris Hemsworth putting doubt as to whether or not he'll continue his tenure as the hero. If he ends up perishing in the battle against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, then Kenneth Branagh might not get his chance to return to the MCU.
Logan was a game-changer for superhero projects, and is arguably the best of the X-Men movies. Its gritty approach and emotional story managed to get one of the genre's first Oscar nominations, opening doors for other projects like Black Panther to follow suit. I'd love to see Thor get this treatment, but it remains to be seen what the studio has planned for Chris Hemsworth's character.
Thor will return to the big screen in Avengers: Doomsday, which will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. His solo movies are all streaming now on Disney+, including Kenneth Branagh's original.
